O Yeong-Su: Squid Sport star acquitted of sexual misconduct cost – BBC

Squid Sport star O Yeong-Su has been acquitted of sexual misconduct expenses by a court docket in South Korea.
The 81-year-old was charged in 2022 with sexually assaulting a girl twice. The allegations stated that he hugged the girl and kissed her on the cheek towards her will.
Mr O was discovered responsible in 2024 and given an eight-month suspended jail sentence, however stated he would enchantment towards the decision.
On Tuesday, a court docket overturned his sentence, saying he had undergone lessons on sexual violence and suggesting that the alleged sufferer's reminiscence might have been "distorted", contemplating how way back the incident occurred.
The alleged assaults befell in 2017 when Mr O was staying in a rural space for a theatre efficiency.
The alleged sufferer filed a criticism towards Mr O in 2021, however the case was closed in April the identical yr. The prosecution later reopened the investigation "on the request of the sufferer", in keeping with Yonhap company.
In an announcement reported by native media shops, the Suwon District Court docket stated there was "doubt" as as to if Mr O had dedicated the assault.
"There’s a risk that the sufferer's reminiscence has been distorted over time, and when there’s doubt… the defendant have to be given the advantage of the doubt".
Nonetheless, the assertion additionally went on to say that it was doable Mr O had dedicated assault, as he had apologised to the sufferer.
The alleged sufferer later spoke out towards the decision, saying it might not "invalidate the reality or erase the ache I’ve suffered".
"Regardless of as we speak's ruling, I’ll proceed to talk the reality to the very finish," she stated in an announcement launched by girls's rights organisation Womenlink.
Womenlink additionally criticised the ruling, saying they had been "outraged by a ruling that after once more conceals sexual violence within the theatre world".
It isn’t but clear if the prosecution will enchantment.
Chatting with native media shops after the court docket ruling, Mr O stated he had "gratitude to the court docket for its clever judgement".
Mr O rose to worldwide fame after starring in Squid Sport, a dystopian drama which sees individuals competing in lethal variations of conventional kids's video games.
In 2022, he grew to become the primary South Korean actor to win a Golden Globe award for finest supporting actor in a sequence, after his efficiency within the first season of the chart-topping Netflix thriller.
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